The Complex
by Sagi-chan
Summary: Gaara knew that something bad was going to happen. And then Naruto showed up at his apartment complex with a two month old child. [Eventual GaaraNaru NejiSasu] [AU] [Yaoi] [Edited Chapters up]
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** _If I owned Naruto, I would stop being so mean to Gaara. As Gaara has been tortured in the last few chapters, it should be obvious that I do not own Naruto._

**AN:** _I know that updates are slow for this and everything else that I write, but please bear with me through the revision and through the slowness of my writing mind. I'm trying, I swear._

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**  
The Complex: By Sagi  
Chapter 1**

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Sabaku no Gaara had long since decided that there had to be something wrong with his day. He didn't know what was wrong, and he didn't quite understand why he'd decided that there _was_ something wrong – but none-the-less that feeling of complete wrongness lingered.

Maybe because it was a Friday. Friday's were Gaara's least favorite days, after all.

His day had started as it usually did. His sleep had been fitful, as nightmares of his past plagued him and didn't allow him to sleep longer than ten minutes at a time. So he had risen in his typically bad mood only to find that he was out of coffee; had a stack of bills that needed to be paid and he had missed three calls calling him in to work the day before. Finally, after twelve hours of paying bills, shopping for coffee and other necessities, and working an extra three hours of overtime, Gaara collapsed on the small couch in his small apartment. It was about eight o'clock.

A shiver went through his frame, amplifying his unease to the point of being uncomfortably annoying.

His cell-phone suddenly began to ring, screaming out: "Shut up – I'll kill you" over and over. In Gaara's opinion the only downside of this particular ringer was the fact that the one calling couldn't hear it.

With his green eyes narrowed, a pale hand reached for the phone, wishing death could be dealt over the phone. However, by the time Gaara actually answered the phone – snapping out a very irritated "What!" – The person on the other end had already hung up.

Looking at the number displayed on the small screen revealed only that he didn't know it. The phone used to call him had been a public number from somewhere in the general vicinity. This was somewhat odd because the only people who were willing to actually converse with Gaara were his sister, his best friends – all of whom lived in different cities – and his neighbors.

At times.

Gaara grumbled quietly for a moment or so, running one of his pale hands through his short red hair. Then he sighed and sat back down on his couch, reaching for the book one of his neighbors had recommended and then left outside his door. It wasn't terribly interesting so far, but Gaara had only started reading it the day before and the story line did have potential to pick up so he continued reading.

He was just settling into the still developing story, twenty minutes later, when there was a knock on his door.

It wasn't a very loud knock. Not urgent pounding or desperate banging. It was quiet, as though the person knocking was tired and knocking on Gaara's door was their very last resort.

Thinking that perhaps he needed more of a life if decoding the knocks on his door was becoming an option, Gaara marked the page in his borrowed book.

A second thought, something along the lines of "I probably should have seen this coming" floated through his head as he stood and made his way to the door in order to either yell at the person on the other side, or to see what they wanted.

The only problem with that plan was the fact that his visitor, who had been using the door for support, fell over as he opened it.

A blond haired, blue eyed man that Gaara hadn't heard from in a good two months fell into Gaara's unprepared arms – as close to unconsciousness as was possible. Pale arms hastened to support the blonds weight, only to find a strange hindrance on the blonds back. This hindrance didn't register right away, due to Gaara's shock.

"Naruto?" Gaara gasped, purely because his breath had been forcibly removed from his lungs with the force of Naruto's fall.

"Gaara," the blond returned, sounding completely exhausted. "Can we stay here for the night? Please?"

The owner of the apartment found himself replying without realizing it. He granted the permission needed right before the word "we" registered in his mind.

A baby began to cry, and suddenly that hindrance on Naruto's back also registered.

That feeling of wrongness from twenty minutes prior came back, causing Gaara's left eye to develop a suspicious tic.

* * *

Twenty minutes later found Naruto sleeping fitfully in Gaara's bedroom. However, it wasn't just Naruto who was sleeping there. Hakuryuu or Ryuu for short – a two month old blond haired, green eyed child that Naruto had claimed was his own – was sleeping in the older blonds arms. That child, Gaara had decided, was infuriatingly annoying.

In the twenty minutes between its arrival and its being forcibly put to bed, the child had cried and then stared and then clung– three of Gaara's least favorite baby habits.

The red haired man exhaled in a way that some might call sighing. Naruto had tried to explain the situation he was in, but had left out many large explanations that probably would have completed the story. And, like only Naruto could, he had gained the permission to stay with Gaara as long as he wanted.

Despite himself, Gaara hoped that his blond friend would stay for a while.

Even if it meant he would have to deal with the baby as well.

Gaara once again seated himself on the couch, his cell phone turned off and his door locked. With his current luck, tonight might also be the night his sister decided to drop in for a visit. Who ever might drop by, Gaara was now playing "out to dinner with a client" and was refusing to budge until he got some serious thinking over with.

"_I can't tell you everything, Gaara, but this child is mine and I've got nowhere else to go."_

"_...You have a- child?"_

"_Well, he's got half of my genes, anyway."_

"_By the sands, there's another Uzumaki in this world..."_

"_Heh..."_

"_So, I suppose she's the mother?"_

"_..."_

"_..."_

"_Yes. But... she died in childbirth. Well, right after childbirth I suppose is more accurate. She had time to name him and then she just... died. I – Gaara, what am I supposed to do? I've tried so hard to keep him, but I had to quit my job and then I couldn't make the rent. His grandparents are trying to take him from me... but he's mine! I just – I don't think I have strength enough to raise him like I want to."_

"_...Stay here then."_

"_Huh?"_

"_You need a place to stay, and I've got an extra room you can use. Stay as long as you need. There are some girls upstairs I'm sure they could baby-sit for you when you need it. And- oomph!"_

"_Thank you Gaara! So much!"_

"_Let go, stupid! I can't breathe!"_

"_Wahhh!"_

"_Naruto, your brat is crying... make it stop before I do."_

That had been the entire conversation. Granted, there had been a lot of pauses, and a lot of staring going on between their words.

And suddenly, after fifteen minutes of sitting and talking to the blond – he had fallen asleep. Just like that. And it had been up to Gaara to carry said blond to bed. Much to his dismay, Gaara found that he also had to bring Ryuu to bed and the baby had taken quite an interest in this new adult.

It took five minutes to pry the little leech from his shirt.

Gaara supposed it could be worse. The child could have hated him tremendously and cried whenever in his presence. Or it could have made a mess of its diaper while in his arms.

He wasn't sure, but Gaara doubted that Naruto had a large supply of baby necessities handy. Besides the baby backpack which held two bottles of formula, a teddy-bear missing one eye (which looked to have been chewed off), a baby blanket, maybe three diapers, and a few changes of clothes for Naruto and Ryuu, Naruto hadn't been carrying anything at all. Gaara knew that the blond didn't have a car anymore. This meant that the blond must have sold it in an attempt to make the rent. Sold the car and all the rest of his belongings – which was just stupid.

Why hadn't Naruto just called him from the beginning? They had been best friends since they were five – they shared everything. Their history might have been a bit rough in later years, but Naruto had to know that Gaara would take care of him for eternity if he asked.

Truthfully, Naruto didn't have to ask for help, but Gaara was too oblivious to most of the world to notice if his friend needed his help.

Eventually, after too much thinking, Gaara laid himself down on the couch and did his best to fall asleep. However, sleep had never favored the red haired man so he lay alternating between dozing fitfully and staring at the ceiling fan as it spun lazily in an attempt to stir the air around the room.

Gaara's body had long since realized that it wasn't going to be much sleep, so it had adjusted its sleeping needs. About an hour of spaced out sleep was sufficient now.

Sometime around four he thought he heard sounds of movement in his room, which he dismissed. Naruto slept like a rock, and nothing short of a child crying in his ear would wake him.

Around six the blond appeared in Gaara's line of sight, bright orange sleep clothes covering his frame (which meant that he _had _been up at four), and a bright smile on his face.

"What sort of food do you have around here?" He asked, flashing that same smile – only brighter. "I'll make breakfast for you."

"Leftovers."

There was a vague wrinkling of a nose. "That's it? No frozen pizzas, no tofu or ramen? Not even cereal?"

"One of the guys across the hall is a chef. He cooks for the entire landing on Saturday's and I always end up with the leftovers. They're sufficient."

Deciding, "hey, why not?" Naruto nodded and headed into the kitchen area. He rummaged through the fridge for a moment before pulling out a Tupperware, threw its contents onto a plate he had found in the sink, and tossed it into the microwave for two minutes.

Then he disappeared back into the bedroom, presumably to fetch his son.

His _son_.

That sounded so weird. So... depressing.

A moment later Naruto was back, this time toting the small demon in his arms. Ryuu looked to be still sleeping, which was a relief because Gaara didn't want to spend his morning in a staring contest with a two month old child.

"He usually sleeps until about eight," Naruto explained, shoving the baby into Gaara's arms and going to retrieve the leftovers from the microwave.

Gaara, for one, didn't quite know how to react. However, that option was taken away from him a moment later because there was a sudden knock on his door.

"Gaara? Open up!" Came the voice of his neighbor Hyuuga Neji – the only of his neighbors who would ever bother him so early in the morning. "There's a bag sitting outside your door. Is it yours?"

Unthinkingly, Gaara stood and walked to open his door in order to glare at the man outside it. Wrenching open the door forced only silence to meet him.

And then Ryuu began to wake up.

"Is that a baby?"

"Uh..."

Ryuu began to make slight whimpering noises; obviously he was just as annoying as his father when it came to waking up unwillingly.

Silence reigned between Gaara and Neji.

"Where did you get a baby and how in the world did it survive with you taking care of it?"

More silence, which really took away from the conversation.

"Gaara? Breakfast is ready, what are you- who's that?"

Ryuu began making more whimpering noises upon hearing his fathers' voice. And when Naruto walked into sight, the baby began reaching for him over Gaara's shoulder.

"Oh, I see." Neji said, a smirk spreading across his features. "You've found a _friend_."

Without even turning around, Gaara knew that Naruto had immediately reddened. His entire body stiffened, remembering too much of his past with those simple words.

The truth was – there was only one thing keeping Gaara from punching Neji in the face. And that was the fact that Ryuu was now flat out crying in his arms. This obstacle was quickly removed by Naruto.

"What did you want, Hyuuga?" Gaara ground out, his hand now twitching freely in its eagerness to punch the only face he knew to be paler than his own.

With that same smirk present on his features, Neji bent over and hauled a rather large bag off of the landing floor. "_This_ was sitting outside your door. It's full of clothes and stuff and Shikamaru and Chouji already denied owning it. So I thought it might be yours. Perhaps it's your friend's and he forgot it in his eagerness to be with you."

A certain green left eye began twitching.

"Naruto! Is this bag yours?" Gaara growled into the apartment.

"Huh? Oh, uh... yeah."

"Well, there we go. Mystery solved." Neji said, still smirking. "Anyway, Gaara... I do hope that you're going to bring your charming friend over for dinner tonight. I think Chouji said he was going to cook something different this week. And Shikamaru said he had a new video game for us to try out. Oh, and did you start that book I lent you–"

The door slammed in Neji's face, the dead lock was shoved home in mid-sentence.

He could hear the pale skinned boy chuckling to himself through the door, which only served to irritate him more. But at the same time, it felt nice to have a sort of friend who would take a moment from his day to speak with him – even if it was in a jokingly smug and irritating way that unknowingly dredged up too many memories.

"How do you like your coffee?" Naruto asked a moment later, a now calm Ryuu balanced carefully in a sling around his neck and a tray holding two mugs of coffee and two plates of leftover food carefully gripped in his hands.

Gaara took one look at the blond before sighing. This whole situation was going to take a while to get used to.

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******AN:** _Please note the changes that I've implemented, mainly the conversation about Ryuu's mother. (Even if his full name is Hakuryuu, my apologies, Ryuu was just too simple for the story.)_

******_--Sagi_**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** _I am cheap and poor. And I don't own Naruto_.

**AN:** _I'm actually getting a bit fed up with all of the reviews I've been receiving lately, so let me put it very clear to everyone who seems to think that I owe them something. **I don't.** I do **not** write for you, I write for me. I write to grow stronger as a writer. So you like my stuff, great. I'm glad you like my style of writing, and even the story that I've cooked up – but do not tell me that I have to update because it's mean not to. **Frankly.** **I don't care.**_

_In other news, this chapter was mostly done, so I added a few last things and here it is. Final's week just ended (for me, anyway) so this is my gift to you in celebration. I hope it meets your expectations (except for the fact that my chapter two's always seem to leave a lot missing)._

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**The Complex: By Sagi  
Chapter 2**

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That day – Saturday – was spent shopping. For Gaara, this equaled the second time in as many days.

However, unlike the day before, Gaara wasn't shopping for necessities which he himself would be using. _Nooo_. Today Gaara was shopping for Naruto. And, of course, by default he was shopping for Ryuu.

It had been the plan that the Gaara would bring Naruto down to the locksmith in order to make the blond a key for the apartment. Perhaps even to a Phone Hut in order to get the blond his own phone. But the locksmith had been out to lunch, the Phone Hut had been closed and the stores themselves had just happened to be located inside a small town shopping district.

The almost ironic part of this was that many of the stores inside of this particular shopping district were dedicated to babies. And it just so happened that Naruto had a baby.

So while Gaara was looking at the quality of ear plugs that _Babies R Us_ kept in stock, Naruto pranced through the aisles forcing Ryuu into odd little outfits as much as he could. Ryuu, for his own part, didn't seem to enjoy being stripped nearly bare in public and protested as much as he was able.

Meaning that the baby squirmed, cried and generally did his very best to inform his father that "_no, this is **not** fun"_.

Eventually, Naruto gave up trying to pick out clothes for Ryuu and wandered into a different area of the store. This area housed all of the baby necessities that Naruto hadn't been able to afford (or get somebody else to buy for him) prior to his moving in with Gaara the evening before.

Naruto was probably the luckiest person alive at that moment in time. His best friend had not only promised to help him get through raising Ryuu alone (for a while at least), offered him a place to stay, and had convinced the girls the next floor up to baby-sit should the need arise, but Gaara had also been easily convinced to buy baby necessities.

"Alright, I think we'll be all set." Naruto said a bit later, struggling to balance his child and the load of baby supplies that was piled into a too-small hand basket.

Gaara frowned. "What do you think I'm made of? Money?"

"Gaara, your father is going to leave you his entire fortune and you have a multi-million dollar advertising company ready to promote you to president before you turn twenty two. Yes, I think you're made of money."

As true as it was, Gaara still didn't like being taken advantage of. It reminded him too much of his past.

But this was Naruto. He would do anything for Naruto, knowing that the same would be returned to him. And the blond would never take advantage of him, no matter what the situation.

"What are you forcing me to buy?" He sighed, heaving his shoulders in a sign few realized to be defeat.

Naruto would never take advantage of him, the red head reasoned. His blond friend had always had a pushy sort of personality. He knew what he wanted and didn't stop until he got it.

"I picked up some blankets; some more diapers; more formula; a pacifier and some other random things that I though might come in handy." Naruto suddenly spotted something in Gaara's hand. "What's that?"

A certain left eye twitched slightly as green eyes focused on the pack of ear plugs. "I get headaches easily. A crying baby certainly won't help," was all that Gaara said to explain why he was buying _Extreme_ _Super Silencing Ear Plugs (prefect for those Need To Sleep occasions such as having relatives with children over, a snoring spouse, next-door construction, noisy neighbors, or if your best friend has randomly shown up with a baby that probably cries a lot)_.

Naruto offered no complaints, probably wishing that he had the luxury of a night of, if not full than at least quiet sleep.

The two headed off for the cashier and then left the store, making their way back to the locksmith's in order to get Naruto's new key for the apartment and then searching for a phone hut to add Naruto to Gaara's plan.

After that, the two men went back to the apartment.

A note was taped on the door of apartment 2-B, flapping slightly in the warm breeze that was blowing despite the fact that it was late October.

In graceful kanji, obviously written by Neji, was written a note inviting Naruto to the landing dinner that would be held in apartment 2-D that night.

"_Naruto-san._ _The second floor landing would like to extend its welcome to you. Tonight there is a landing dinner to which you are invited."_ Naruto read slowly over Gaara's shoulder - before the note was crumpled and thrown at the door of apartment 2-C, which just so happened to be where Neji and his roommate lived.

"So... it's even official that I live here to your neighbors?" Naruto asked, bouncing Ryuu slightly in his excitement to be a part of a group that, in his mind, was tight-knit and ready to do anything for each other. "Then I _have_ to go to dinner with you all!"

With that, Naruto bounced into the apartment and flopped down on the couch, leaving Gaara to follow with the bags from their four hour shopping excursion.

The reason that Gaara was carrying all of the shopping bags was simple. He _had_ actually been willing to carry Ryuu and let Naruto take the bags, which were much heavier when it came down to it. However, Ryuu had become a little too excited with the idea of somebody else playing with him and had promptly soiled his diaper. Gaara had not only backed away as quickly as humanly possible, he had also scooped up every single shopping bag and set a fast pace for the nearest bathroom (while desperately wishing that he had bought the _Extreme Nasal Plugs_ along with the _Extreme Ear Plugs_).

Gaara disappeared into the second bedroom in order to dump Naruto's new purchases and to wonder about where he had put his spare futon. There was no way he was going to spend the rest of his days spending the night on the couch. It didn't matter that he didn't sleep much. Lying on the lumpy couch was not good for his back.

A little later, the two were sitting together on said lumpy couch, having another one of their quiet talks. Ryuu was napping in the other room, his two month old body not exactly designed to stay awake for long periods of time.

"So... you've been okay here?" Naruto started the conversation tentatively.

Gaara picked at the lint on a couch cushion, thinking about his answer. Wondering how he could make the state of his life sound decent with the fewest possible words. He didn't want Naruto to worry about him. But he didn't want to lie to his only true friend either.

"I'm alright." He answered finally, looking up to meet Naruto's clear blue eyes. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly, as though trying to smile. "You've matured, Naruto. You're actually taking the time to think about my well-being. It's weird."

"Me? No way. I'm just worried about you. I can't help it."

"Well... How about you? Are you okay?"

"Gaara… I've got a kid, no money and I've ended up rooming with you. The mother is dead, her parents are trying to take my baby and I've scared about three people half to death by disappearing in the middle of the night."

A pause while Naruto thought about if he was actually okay or not.

"I guess I'm alright."

Gaara blinked. Naruto had a really odd sense of being "alright". He looked at his blond friend a little more carefully. Noticing the bags under his eyes, and the slightly paler than usual color that his face had taken. Being so pale made the scars on his cheeks fade slightly. The scars that Naruto had been carrying for most of his life; but had no idea where they were from. Naruto's hair was also longer than usual. The natural spiky blond locks drooped slightly, giving him a tired look. Naruto was still short, having grown very little in the time he and Gaara hadn't seen each other. But none the less, the twenty-year-old still smiled. He still spent most of his time caring for others.

"What was she like?" Gaara finally asked, deciding to change the subject.

"Who? What was who like?"

"The _mother_ of your _child_. What was she like?"

Naruto's eyes lit up, formerly sad blue becoming bright and excited. "She was the most beautiful girl in the world! You know that! She had really soft red hair and green eyes. I was hoping that the baby would have red hair, like hers – but I guess blond is okay. She was really strong too! Not strong in the sense of muscles, but in the fact that she knew exactly who she was and what she could do. She could fight if she needed to, but tried not to. She was smart. Heh. I loved her so much Gaara."

The red head sighed, knowing that Naruto wasn't going to make this easy on him. But... he still needed to know. He needed to make sure that something hadn't happened between whom he thought was the mother and who might really be the mother.

"What was her _name,_ stupid?"

Denial was never one of Gaara's strong points, but he seemed to be taking the effort to smother himself in it today. _Don't be Sakura_, he seemed to be trying to say.

"You already know that. I told you yesterday." Being oblivious was one of Naruto's stronger traits.

"..."

"Sakura. Haruno Sakura."

Gaara's sighed, a bit louder than the previous one. "Sakura, huh? I figured that it had been her. The sands know that you never had eyes for anyone else."

Naruto fidgeted a little bit. "Er... yeah. I finally got her to go out with me – and somehow we just clicked. I mean, we were only together a little over a year, but it was enough to know that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her." Naruto's excusing tone changed slightly as he laughed, despite the tears that were dripping down his cheeks. "I guess the joke was on me this time. I mean – the number one prankster finally fell so deep in love that he can't get back out... and she leaves me in the worst way possible. Alone. With a baby. If it had been- I mean… I can't-"

Whatever Naruto couldn't do, Gaara didn't hear through the sobs that were suddenly shaking Naruto's slight frame.

Both worried and confused, Gaara really had no idea how to deal with his sobbing best friend. Embracing the blond would be odd – Gaara had a distinct 'no touching unless we're all about to die' rule – a rule reinforced through his troublesome years of high school and college. Trying to reassure him things would be okay was just stupid. Things wouldn't be okay, because any direction that the situation was looked upon, Naruto was still a single, widowed parent with nowhere else to go and nothing to bring with him except his baby. Cheering somebody up had never been one of Gaara's strongest traits either, so the red head was at a serious loss of what to do.

He finally settled for patting Naruto's drooping blond locks awkwardly, wishing that he was just a little more comfortable with himself so that he could properly comfort his friend.

Ryuu's sudden crying in the other room snapped the blond out of his tears better than Gaara did, and Naruto was soon up off of the couch and back with a red faced infant.

If there was any moment in time for Gaara to feel relief for a crying child, that was it.

And then Gaara's cell-phone began ringing.

"_Shut up, I'll kill you! Shut up, I'll kill you!"_ The shrill voice shrieked into the relatively quiet apartment, prompting Ryuu into another batch of tears.

"What?" Gaara grunted into his phone.

"Chouji's just about to get dinner on the table." The voice of Hyuuga Neji said over the line. "Where are you, and your friend?" There was a slight smirk on Neji's voice that Gaara quickly decided that he didn't like.

"We're coming. And if you continue to use that tone with me, I'll kill you. ...Don't make me kill you, Hyuuga."

There was a pause before Neji decided not to answer to Gaara's threat. Instead he said: "The door is unlocked. Hurry up, whatever we're eating... it smells really good" said the smirking voice, before hanging up quickly.

Naruto lifted an eyebrow at his friend, bouncing Ryuu slightly to quiet the wails.

"Dinner's ready." Gaara explained shortly, standing up and motioning for Naruto to do the same. "And they're getting impatient."

"Did they order pizza or something?" Naruto asked, his stomach getting hungry at just the idea. For, being one who had rarely enjoyed a home-cooked meal, the idea of dinner was some sort of take-out food.

The blond scurried towards the nearest sink in order to splash his face with cold water. He didn't want anybody to know that he had just been crying.

"Doubtful." Gaara muttered, yanking open the door and waiting for Naruto to exit the apartment. "Chouji wants to be a world-class chef. Nothing he makes will ever be that simple."

Naruto followed as Gaara crossed the landing and pushed open the door to apartment 2-D. A delicious aroma wafted towards the two men and they followed that smell into the main room, where a group of men were sitting upon a couch, two chairs and the floor.

Neji, who Naruto remembered from earlier that morning stood up from one of the chairs. "Gaara," he greeted, beaming. "And Naruto, correct?"

Naruto nodded.

Neji smiled at the blond before turning and addressing the rest of the group. "I only heard his name this morning, but this is Naruto--" he trailed off, glancing back at Naruto in hopes of being supplied with a surname.

"Uzumaki." Naruto hastened to add. "And my son, Ryuu."

"Right, Uzumaki Naruto, and his son Ryuu." Neji turned back to Naruto. "This is the '_Second Landing Group_'. Nara Shikamaru – he lives here – Uchiha Sasuke – he's my roommate – and of course myself, Hyuuga Neji." 

"Hyuuga?" Naruto asked, his eyes widening slightly. "Do you know a Hyuuga Hinata?" 

"Hinata?" Neji asked, frowning slightly. He looked as though he were thinking hard about all of the relations that he knew of. Apparently, Hinata wasn't on the list. "No, but I haven't met much of my relatives. They all live elsewhere, and I've never traveled." The long haired man gave a sheepish smile. 

"The same answer he gave me six months ago," Gaara murmured, so that only Naruto could hear him. 

"I see," Naruto murmured, bouncing Ryuu distractedly, a distant look lingering in his eyes as though he were still thinking about Hyuuga Hinata. 

"Oi, you guys," an impatient voice said from a doorway that presumably let into the kitchen. "The food is getting cold. And… Naruto-kun, I've mashed together some peas and carrots for you son, if that's alright, I don't know if he can eat solid foods yet – maybe some formula would be…" the voice trailed off, and Naruto turned to look at the man. 

His eyes widened. "Chouji! I didn't know that you lived here!" 

Akamichi Chouji, who was a plump sort of person with a warm smile and even warmer eyes, had been a primary school friend of Naruto's before he had moved away with his family. 

Gaara suddenly found himself with an armful of baby while Naruto bounded forward in order to give Chouji an enormous hug. 

Everybody else trailed behind, stomachs rumbling as they went.

* * *

"Dinner," Naruto said with a look of amazed contentment, "was amazing. I don't think I've ever eaten anything so good in my life." 

The other men didn't say anything, but it was clear that Naruto's words spoke the truth for all of them. 

Shikamaru let out a rumbling belch, patting his stomach appreciatively. "You're still the best, Chouji." He said, shifting slightly before standing up and walking out of the room. Sasuke and Neji stood up and hastily followed him, probably trying to avoid clean up duty. Gaara hastened to follow them, being nearly as big of a fan of cleaning as he was of shopping. Meaning – he wasn't willing to extend a kind hand regardless of the degree of pouty eyes thrown his way. 

"Stop looking at me like that," he muttered to Naruto just before he disappeared out the doorway into the living room – where the others were already playing some video game. 

Naruto sighed, sending an apologetic look to Chouji. "Let me go put Ryuu down for a nap, and I'll be right back to help you." He said. 

"Don't worry about it." Chouji told him with a wide smile. "I'm very particular about my kitchen and how it's kept. I don't mind if you go and play the game with them. Shikamaru is quite good at programming them. He's already earned a small fortune from the last two he put out – not to mention I'm sure he'd like to know your input." 

Chouji turned around from where he had been filling the sink to find that Naruto was already wrestling for possession of the video controllers. He had passed Ryuu into Gaara's surprised arms, and was sitting on top of Sasuke, whining for all he was worth.

* * *

**AN:** _There was only one important story marker in this chapter. The rest was just character introduction and story bits that I will be able to use later. Again, notice the changes that I've added, basically with bits about Ryuu and such. Woot, woot.  
**  
**_******--Sagi** ****


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** _As always, these aren't my characters, and I realize that I'm using them without permission._

**AN:** _Not noticing the fact that it took me almost three months to update (which is rather quick, considering my current track record), I'd like to present to you the third chapter of my wonderfully growing story. I'd like to make just one comment about my lateness – I have been developing a back story, which means the current story has changed a bit. I will be editing the first two chapters to make the story more stable with the back story I've created. Please notice the changes and make note of them. Now, go ahead an enjoy._

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**The Complex: By Sagi  
****Chapter 3** _**

* * *

**_

It had been about two weeks now, that Naruto and Ryuu had been living with Gaara. They had settled into a comfortable routine. Mornings were awkward – with Naruto rummaging around the kitchen before sighing and heating leftovers and eating them with minimal complaints – leaving Gaara to fend for himself – while at the same time warming a bottle of formula for his son. Gaara would leave for work at eight, leaving the blond to mope around the apartment – before deciding to clean the already spotless living spaces, go on a walk to familiarize himself with the area or to simply go back to sleep.

The blonds' afternoons were spent across the hall with Chouji and Shikamaru, the only two on the landings during the afternoons. Naruto – having decided that it would be better in the long run if he could at least cook a few basic meals – was taking cooking lessons from Chouji, sneaking in conversations in order to learn more about his new environment. After learning how to prepare this dish, or that one, and learning every way possible to annoy Sasuke and Neji, Naruto would hunt down Shikamaru, begging to see his new game and to play it just one more time.

Ryuu, on the other hand, would usually be abducted by the girl's one floor up, mainly because one of the girls living there eventually wanted to be a mother – and this was, apparently, good practice. It didn't matter that Ryuu didn't like women, and therefore cried whenever in her presence. All that Naruto cared about was the fact that he would probably go insane if he was forced to deal with Ryuu on a twenty-four hour basis, like he had been until he moved in with Gaara.

Evenings would be spent quietly, Ryuu usually going to bed rather early – not that he ever slept through the night – leaving Naruto and Gaara to either sit and watch an old movie – as the cable was out in the apartments for some technical reason – or talking with each other. Usually it was the former, because most conversations would eventually lead back to their almost unmentionable high school history – leaving them both uncomfortable.

"Naruto, why don't you get a job?" Shikamaru finally moaned, turning away from his computer where he was corresponding with the two other programmers that were working on their latest game. "You've spent two weeks here, whining about how you just take and take from Gaara. If you get a job, you can pay your own way." The man paused, thoughtful. "In fact, I know a place that's hiring right now. It's just busting tables, but the pay is good and the hours are manageable. I can give them a call if you like."

Naruto froze, the idea washing over him, with a backlash of consequences following. What would he do with Ryuu while he was as work? How would he manage to work if he was worrying about his son? Would it be a good idea? What would Gaara say to this?

The blond wandered off, much to Shikamaru's amusement, still deep in thought. With no reason not to call, Shikamaru did just that, and five minutes later had actually set up an interview for Naruto.

Later that night, the widowed father found out exactly what Gaara thought about him getting a job.

"It's about time you got a decent job. Iruka never let you get one during school, did he?"

At Naruto's shake of the head, the red head continued on.

"Much as it pains me to say it – Shikamaru's right, you have been complaining a lot lately. If you get a graveyard shift, I can take care of Ryuu while you're gone." The red head had then turned the page in his borrowed book and continued reading. On his lap, Ryuu was curled into himself, sleeping soundly.

So the blond had been stuck, and he had agreed. The job, at a diner within walking distance of his new humble abode, had been given to him with relative ease – only one setback with a few serious questions about his son, the nature of how he was raising him, and a few questions about what was being shown on the news.

Still, when all was said and done, Naruto would be working the late night shift which ended around four in the morning. A new schedule would need to be established, and Gaara would need to learn how to change a diaper, but it appeared that life was continuing on in a normal manner.

* * *

It didn't seem to quite connect to the young girl staring into an old photo that she held in her hand, that the eighteen year old girl and the two other boys smiling back at her were once herself and her two closest friends. This girl, though strong in her own ways, felt quite weak at the moment, not knowing quite what to do with herself, and the many questions and suspicions that she held. 

Hyuuga Hinata sighed quietly, looking down at the phone in her other hand. She had been debating for the last hour or so, trying to convince herself one way or the other to contact one of her closest friends – Sabaku no Gaara. It wasn't going to be a personal call, to check and see if life was suiting her friend well. But rather, a call to see it Gaara had heard from the other boy in the photo. Uzumaki Naruto, the boy who was currently dominating every news channel for the abduction of a newborn baby before both disappeared completely.

Looking around her room, Hinata sighed again. There was not a scrap of anything that told an onlooker anything about her in this room. The bed – set against the wall – had a dark coverlet on it which hid any stains that might have occurred at any point in its usage. The floor was a polished hardwood that didn't ever have a trace of dust or scuffing on it. The walls were bare – despite Naruto's often gifts of posters and calendars to put up. Every thing he bought for her was put away secretly so that her mother would not steal it and burn it without her knowing. The only real life in her room usually existed in her closet. Because during her high school years she stored all of her books and pictures and journals among her clothes, and all of them were hidden so carefully that Hinata's mother would never find them.

Currently, however, stacks of boxes were revealed in her closet. A most were her own – as she was planning on moving out soon, but a good number of them were Naruto's. This was another reason why Hinata wanted to call Gaara and see if he had seen Naruto lately.

Hinata sighed again, casting her eyes away from the photo and instead looking towards the stacks of boxes that were currently occupying her otherwise empty bedroom. Her mother would be on her case soon, about getting rid of all of Naruto's things.

This was yet another thing Hinata was curious about. These things meant so much to Naruto – why hadn't he just taken them with him. The man had a car, she knew. It would have been easy to pack his boxes, his baby and himself into the car, rather than leaving it with her.

"Please, Hinata, could you just hold onto this stuff for a while? It's really important to me." Naruto's dim eyes looked pleadingly into her own confused orbs.

"Naruto, what's going on? Where are you going?"

"Please, Hinata?" His eyes wouldn't even meet hers anymore.

The usually quiet girl sighed, but she was unwilling to let her friend suffer so she agreed. "Help me get it into my room. I'll bring them to you when you're ready."

She received a giant hug for her efforts, and because of it, Hinata didn't regret her decision one bit.

Hinata frowned then, thinking about how unnerving Naruto's unannounced and virtually unexplained departure had really been. Perhaps there was something close to truth being displayed on the news for once. Without hesitating a second more, Hinata made her choice. She picked up her phone and began dialing.

"Hello?" A rather gruff and tired sounding voice snapped upon the second ring.

"Gaara? It's Hinata. Listen, I'm looking for Naruto. Is he there? Have you seen him at all in the last few weeks?"

Gaara's voice softened a bit at the panicked voice of his only other friend. "He's here... but he can't talk. He's got to run for work."

Of in the distance she could almost hear Naruto's voice, asking who was on the phone.

More importantly, to Hinata anyway, was the fact that Naruto got a job with all of the bad news coverage he was getting. "What!"

Reading the disbelief in her tone, Gaara explained. "He got the job before the news announcements came on, and the place he's working for heard his story – believes it, even – and promised to protect him until he sorted everything out. Though, I think he told them everything because the cable here is out, and all televisions in the area are simply fuzz."

"Oh, that's good, I guess..." At least he's not making it too easy for people to find him, the girl thought quietly to herself. "Listen, I'm going to visit, do you mind?"

"All I have left is the couch..."

"That's fine. I'm going to leave today-"

"Right now?" Gaara suddenly cut her off, sounding startled.

"Yes, I've got a bunch of Naruto's things that I want to drop off. My mother is getting... upset about the mess it's making of the house."

"Meaning there are neatly packed boxes sitting in your closet and you left the door opened?"

"Well... yes."

"What is it?" Gaara asked, now sounding curious.

"It's his journals. All of them, including the scrapbooks, the videos and the computer. And my things as well, I'm looking for a place to move into."

"..." Hinata could her Gaara's sigh, however quiet it was.

"I'll see you in a few hours?" The girl asked, hopeful.

"Alright, I'll be watching for you then."

"Bye, see you in a few hours."

The shy girl had just barely hung up her phone when her mother barged into her small, bare room. Looking nothing like Hinata herself, her mother was a very cold and a very unhappy woman. Unhappy in the sense that her husband – Hinata's father – had left her with a three year old child while he himself pursued a more homosexual way of life before dying in a car accident only a few months later. So the woman remained bitter towards the only outlet she had, her daughter.

"I thought I told you to get rid of all of this junk!" The severe woman shouted, somehow seeing an overflowing mess instead of the neat piles of boxes in the closet and not the rest of the bare room.

"I am, mother. I'm going to drive it to storage in just a few moments." Hinata was proud that her stutter didn't return to her, as it so often did when she was in her mother's presence. She even managed to look confident as she said it, though that wasn't what she was feeling at all. Years of verbal and physical abuse did that to a person.

"Where are you taking it? It belongs to that blond brat doesn't it? The one you mooned pathetically over during high school? I heard he's a rapist and a murderer now. Such a nasty little boy, that blond is."

"No." Hinata said, lying and thinking quickly and feeling a spark of anger deep in her belly at her mother's remarks. "It's Gaara's."

"That insomniac freak? I never could stand him, the way he glared at the world – and that tattoo he had was just horrible. I thought I told you to cut ties with him years ago!"

That spark suddenly flared into a surge of anger that threatened to overwhelm Hinata's small body. Started by both the unfair judgment her mother displayed towards her two only friends and also at the misdirected anger that she herself was receiving from her mother. Angry and hurt, the girl stood up, her back towards her mother. But instead of saying anything, she simply began moving the boxes out of her closet and into the hall.

"I'm driving to Sunagakure tonight." She said stiffly. "I'm not coming back. Don't worry – I won't call you or contact you at all. I'm taking everything with me."

Hinata then dragged her boxes out of her bedroom and into the car she bought thanks to the money left to her from her father – exactly half of the Hyuuga fortune – her mother had wailed about it for years. Then, after making many similarly silent trips to add Naruto's things as well, she left – departing with only one final thing to say to her mother.

"I'm so glad father left his entire fortune to me, this way I can live on my own without needing any support, even with my chosen career of journalism."

* * *

The apartment that they lived in was simple, if such a word could be used to describe anything even related to something these men were associated with. The main room was rather plain looking, only furnished by a television – which required a suitable couch and matching end tables – and a computer, which of course needed a desk and a comfortable chair before it could be used. 

Only the barest necessities sat on the desk, such as a box full of pens, pencils, scrap paper and paperclips. Next to it – looking only slightly out of place – was a jar almost full of change. On the couch end tables, a few personal things had been placed, making the apartment look lived in. A few pictures of only one of the men were lined up on one table, while a simple hair brush lay on the other. The only decoration on the wall was a very beautiful Asian landscape scroll. These were the only few things that set it apart from other apartments. Just like others, it came equip with a soft, light blue carpet, white walls, a heater just outside the bathroom door a window that currently displayed the nighttime world and two doors leading into other – probably more private and intimate – settings.

The only sound was the almost distant hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen.

Nothing moved.

The front door opened, and then closed with a firm bang. A quiet jingle of keys sounded as they were tossed into a small basket by the door. And a young man, looking tired after a hard day of work and still in his uniform walked slowly into the main room. He moved into the bathroom, splashing his face with cool water to wake himself up and then running his hands through his long hair, before moving into one of the bedrooms. He reemerged a few moments later, this time dressed in a pair of comfortable looking black shorts and an off-setting khaki colored jersey shirt.

Hyuuga Neji then settled down on the couch, turned on the television and sighed heavily in disappointment. His stomach growled and he half wished that his roommate had returned from his own place of work – bearing dinner.

Instead of complaining – or even getting up to make something for himself – Neji simply began flipping through the various channels of fuzz. He began grumbling that the cable should be repaired already, because watching fuzz wasn't half as entertaining as watching people make fools of themselves on national television. Still grumbling, he stumbled upon a local news station that – though also slightly fuzzy – was also at least holding a steady picture and clear audio. The news castor was currently blabbering on about how the city was cutting funding for programs that receiving low marks in their adequacy scores.

"Seems like they should do the opposite," Neji murmured to himself, thinking of everything he had been taught in his public relations classes and his law classes while finishing up his major at the local University.

An interview soon followed the report, with a librarian and a volunteer program specialist trying to explain why the reason for their low scores were because of the already low funding that they were receiving – due to "lack of interest" or, lack of city funding, as the librarian so put it. The debate roared on as city officials attempted to explain themselves and their victims tried to change their minds. It seemed obvious to Neji – a simple bystander – that nobody was going to change their minds, but on and on it went until both sides were red in the face.

"The news?" A slightly nasally voice spoke up, right next to the long haired mans ear – causing said man to jump slightly in surprise.

"Sasuke? I didn't hear you come in-" Neji said, trying to cover up his surprise, though it was obvious even to him that he was doing a bad job at it.

"A skill I'm quite proud of, actually," Sasuke replied, almost smugly before he sat down next to Neji and took a light hold of his unbound hair. "May I?" He then asked in an obscure way."

Neji shrugged in his own uncaring manner, but his heart rate sped up anyway, belying his calm exterior.

With permission granted Sasuke grabbed the hairbrush from the small table next to the couch and began gently brushing the long mass of silky black hair that had been holding his fascination since he first laid eyes on Neji. When he was finished brushing, he would begin to braid it – a skill he had perfected using Neji's hair only.

Though he never said anything and Neji was sure that Sasuke didn't realize this, but the younger mans long hair fixation began and ended with Neji. The Uchiha had once told him that he liked long hair on boys – though he also enjoyed short hair on girls. And in all their time of being friends and roommates, Neji had never seen Sasuke glance at any other head of hair beside his own. This was something that the Hyuuga was proud of – because it had originally been his crush on Sasuke that had influenced his choice to grow out his hair in the first place.

"So – what's up in the news?" Sasuke asked, pausing in his brushing to peer into Neji's vacant-looking pale eyes.

"The funding is being cut," Neji answered, feeling a good discussion coming on. "They're saying that the adequacy testing is too low and such." He continued talking, explaining everything he had just watched in the debate and his opinions on it.

Sasuke listened intently and it wasn't long before he got up and retrieved two boxes of take out food and returned to more actively participate in the discussion.

The slight feeling of tension that came from the treatment of Neji's hair intensified as their discussion changed from what was going on in the city to what was going on in their lives. Neji informed Sasuke about how he was receiving new – and more importantly, female – clients at the gym simply because of his looks. And Sasuke informed him that the restaurant stats were up because – apparently – he worked there and brought in all the customers. Both undercurrents to the conversation were testaments that both men were very good looking and both of them were single.

Neither man would admit to liking anybody though – however much it wasn't true.

However, before anything important could be said, Neji's attention was suddenly back on the television as he eyes caught sight of a very familiar person being displayed on the screen.

"His name is Uzumaki Naruto," the news anchor was saying, "and he's wanted in Konohagakure for the suspected murder of Haruno Sakura and the kidnapping of this girl's infant son, Hakuryuu - almost three months ago. While the case was reported nearly three weeks ago, authorities are only now taking the case seriously. The grandparents claim that Uzumaki stalked their daughter for years before finally raping her and killing her just after she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. They stated that they were trying to claim the rights to raising their granddaughter when Uzumaki – spouting lies about the situation – took the baby and ran."

The television fuzzed slightly before retuning to the semi-clear picture.

"There were reports from the hospital that Haruno Sakura wasn't showing any physical signs of rape or any abuse at all. Nurses even report that Haruno wanted Uzumaki to be present when she gave birth and that she wanted Uzumaki to take care of her baby as much as she could. While obscure, these remarks from the hospital staff that night add an interesting twist to the situation."

The television fuzzed again, making the next few words hard to understand before it returned to its faux-clarity.

"This is what the grieving parents - now grandparents - have to say."

The screen cut from the news anchor to a video of a couple. A very angry looking woman, looking hassled almost that she had to make such a statement, and a very depressed and tired looking man, a good many years older than his wife.

"That boy," the woman began, "is absolutely despicable! He was never at school - so you know he flunked out - and when he was able to go he was always harassing my poor Sakura! He couldn't keep a decent job for the life of him - dirty orphan scum he was! And he always hung with the creepiest crowd - that Sabaku kid and the daughter of the gay-"

The man suddenly spoke up, cutting off his wife in her tirade of hate. "We just want our grandchild to be safe, and with all of this doubt and shadow on Uzumaki's past and his relationship with our daughter, we don't believe that Hakuryuu is safe at all. Please, if you know anything that could help - call the authorities."

The video ended and the news anchor was returned, looking grim.

"We've just had a call from our own local authorities," he said, "that Uzumaki might be right here, in Sunagakure. The mother of one of Uzumaki's gang buddies called and said that her daughter was planning a trip to drop off a bunch of the kidnappers things tonight. However, where and when the delivery will take place she didn't know."

The news then broke for a commercial, during which Sasuke turned off the television.Silence filled the apartment living room, with disbelief hidden somewhere in both boys.

"But Naruto said that-" Neji began, before realizing that Naruto had never explained why he had so unexpectedly moved in with Gaara. He stood up and moved around the couch, pacing - while thinking about what he had just heard. It couldn't be true - but it did explain a good portion of truth.

Naruto had never talked about his past – that Neji knew about – but he certainly was grieving some personal loss, which meant he couldn't be a stalking-raping sociopath. He wouldn't take so much care of his son - whom was named Ryuu, not Hakuryuu – if he didn't love him. Besides, he had known Gaara for a good long time now and he knew the redhead couldn't stand trash characters.

He explained all of this and more to Sasuke, who listened quietly to Neji's reasons before suggesting that perhaps they should go directly to the source and ask Naruto before assuming anything at all.

His own reasoning and Sasuke's suggestion – however brief - had both calmed down Neji and convinced him and Sasuke that they did indeed want to hear the whole story. Yet, while they got ready to go – Neji needing to use the bathroom first – there was light knocking on the door.

Sasuke, because he was closer, went to answer it, thinking that perhaps it was Chouji with his latest mealtime experiment. To his surprise – which he didn't bother to cover up – the person on the other side of the door wasn't Chouji holding a nondescript tupper-wear box, but a young girl who almost looked almost exactly like his roommate.

"Oh," the girl said her eyes also wide in surprise,

"A-ano... I m-must have gotten the w-wrong door…" she began to bow, an apology on her lips when Sasuke cut her off.

"On the contrary," Sasuke said, taking a step forward and staring at the girl in wonder. She brought her hands up to her chest in an almost protective manner and began playing with her fingertips. He noticed this unusual trait, and also that she wore the same flawless pale skin that Neji trademarked, the same thick black hair and the exact shade of her beautiful pale lavender eyes. "It's quite amazing that you picked this door."

"Oi, Sasuke," Neji's voice called from behind him somewhere. "I thought we were going over to Gaara's – who are you talking to?"

Sasuke paused a moment, thinking at first that the girl would offer him a name, but when none came he simple called back: "It's one of your fan girls."

Both the girl in front of him and Neji behind him remained silent for a second before erupting with noises of surprise.   
"Eh!" The girl asked, both taking a step back and peeking curiously over Sasuke's shoulder into the apartment.

Neji appeared then, his face arranged in an irritated expression. However, upon seeing the girls face – the look quickly melted into shock. "You..." he began, but in the shock he was unable to speak anything more eloquent such as: "wow, you look a whole lot like me, perhaps we're related?" As it was "you" would suffice for the moment.

The girls expression remained openly shocked as well. She, however, seemed to understand how they were related because a tiny whisper escaped her lips, which she instantly covered up with her hands. "...Neji-nii-san..."

Both Neji and Sasuke blinked in surprise at her whisper. "You know me?" Neji asked, just as Sasuke questioned her with, "You know him?"

The girl slowly removed her hands from her lips. "Y-yes, of course. But I'm supposed to – ah – meet somebody," she checked the watch on her wrist, "an, an hour ago. I'm very s-sorry, but I've got to go..."

The door next to Neji and Sasuke's apartment opened and Gaara walked out of his own abode, holding his phone in one hand and keeping the other tucked in his pocket. "Hinata!" He said, sounding annoyed but relieved. "I expected you an hour ago!"

The girl's – Hinata's – eyes lit up and she moved, almost faster than the eyes could follow. "Gaara!" she cried out, "I'm sorry I'm late!" Hinata reappeared behind Gaara, with her arms wrapped around the red head – looking at him closely and trying to detect any difference with the boy she knew and the man in front of her while at the same time trying to avoid the interested gaze of the two men staring at them. "Where's Hakuryuu?"

"Sleeping." Gaara told her, reverting back to his normal self and delivering one word answers. He also noticed the interested looks of Neji and Sasuke and said, in a forced formal voice. "This is Hyuuga Hinata, a close friend of mine from childhood."

"Since childhood," Hinata corrected, still hiding behind Gaara.

Neji and Sasuke just stared with widening smirks on their faces. They had never seen a girl so willing to even talk to this man, let alone hug him and chatter with him. Gaara, noticing their looks, glared hotly at them.

"I never knew you had so many friends!" Neji said, still smirking.

Gaara remained silent, a frown fixed on his face and his eyes narrowed.

"Ano, Gaara... could you help me bring my, my things up from my car? It's only that – I've brought everything..."

"You moved out?" Gaara asked, surprised. He thought that Hinata's mother would keep her locked up for years, trying to milk the inheritance out of her daughter.

"Well…" the small girl hedged, "I- I got angry at the way mother was judging you a-and Naruto." She stood up a little bit taller, a tiny bit of confidence chasing away her stutter. "That's why it took me so long, I had to pack everything and load it into my car."

"We'll help." Neji said from behind them, watching their interaction with open interest. "I'd like to hear about our relation, as you seem to know something about it, so we'll help and you can tell us what we'd like to hear."

"Let me check on Ryuu first, and I'll help too," Gaara told her. "I'm also thinking that my curious neighbors wanted a talk with me and Naruto…" His voice trailed off and Hinata looked worried.

"So they... know?" There was a tiny hesitation – like she was about to stutter her words through her nervousnes.

Gaara remained silent for a moment, as if giving his neighbors a chance to answer for him. A chance that Neji took up, almost instantly

"Yes," the long haired man said. "We know about Naruto.

* * *

_**AN:** Please remember the changes that will be coming soon, they're important and they change the story – **a lot**. Also, I apologize for my Hinata being a little OOC, but I figure that being friends with Gaara and Naruto would give her a little confidence, even if she still stutters a little. Note that everything that happened is important, and any untied plot stings will be connected…before the end of the story._

___Also look out for the back story, which will be uploaded eventually. I promise. _

_****__--Sagi_


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